Improvement in casting car-wheels



N.PETERS. PHolO-LIYHDGRIPNER WASHINGTON u l.

ATENT OFFICE..

LUCIEN H. ALLEN, OF TAMAQUA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO I-IIMSELF Ann E.M. IvENs,

OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CASTING CAR-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,109, dated June 10,1856.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUoIEN H. ALLEN, of Tamaqua, in Schuylkill countyand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Method ofCasting Iron Vheels for RailroadCars and other Purposes; and I do herebydeclare that the following` is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part ofthis specication, which represents a section taken through the center ofa wheel and mold in which it is cast.

Great loss has always been experienced in the casting of car-wheelswhere the rim is chilled for the purpose of hardening it, owing to thecontraction of the rim being greater than that of the hub, and from thiscause a large proportion crack in casting, and many that are turned outapparently perfect crack as soon as they are subjected to the jar ot'running upon the road. To obviate this a variety of forms have beendevised, whereby the center part of the wheel is enabled to yield tothecontraction ofthe rim while the metal is pliable in the mold. In thisway perfection in the casting is attained at the expense of the strengthof the wheel, as to accomplish this the lines ofthe metal plates betweenthe rim and the center must be in some direction diagonal to the planeof pressure. That plane of pressure, (in chilling the rim,) being fromthe circumference to the center, is equivalent to the plane of pressurewhen the wheel is under burden in service, when it will be from thecenter to the circumference. Thus it is evident a wheel of any of theseforms must be madeheavier than it' the lilies of the metal disk weredirectly in or parallel to said plane of pressure. It has also beenattempted to cool the center of the wheel by submitting it to the actionof the atmosphere by producing a draft or current of air through andaround the eye; but this is found to be very uncertain and for the mostpart inadequate, as it does not act quickly or powerfully enough toproduce the desired result. Cold water has also been used in a varietyof ways; but as it is converted so rapidly into steam and passes off inthe form of vapor, it produces little effeet other than that ofhardening the surface of the metal, which is very objectionable, as

it is more difficult to bore the eye of the Wheel to fit the axle-tree.To remedy this evIl 1s the object of my invention, which consists -1nblowing or otherwise applying steam or Its equivalent to or through thehub of the fresh cast wheel, to cause it to contract at the center, andthereby relieve the chilled rim from strain, owing to its cooling themore rapidly.

I will now proceed to describe my invention by referring to the drawing.rIhe wheelpatteru C is molded in the ordinary way In the flask A andD,whieh is suitably constructed to admit of the introduction of a`steam-pipe into the core of the hub, the pattern being removed, the askclosed with the metallic ring or chill B, forming the mold for theperiphery of the wheel7 and placed in such position that the perforatednozzle E of the steam-pipe enters the center of the mold. A core whichforms the eye of wheel, made with a conical hole in one end to fit thenozzle E, is then placed thereon and supported in the sand above andbelow in the usual Way. The molten iron is then poured into the fiask,filling the space from the core to the periphery all round, when avolume of steam, or its equivalent, is blown through the nozzle byopening the cock F, which displaces the core and impinges on the eye ofthe red-hot wheel, causing it to contract very rapidly, the rapidity ofwhich may be regulated to a nicety by regulating the volu me of steampassed through the cock F, while the chill contracts the periphery. Bythis method the cast wheel may be made with a llat disk without fear ofcracking, which form is undoubtedly capable of bearing the greatestweight with the smallest quantity of metal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

Passing a volume of steam through the eye of a cast-metal wheel whilethe periphery is in the chill, whereby the contraction of the wheel asit cools is equalized, in the manner substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name.

L. II. ALLEN.

Nifitnesses;

JOHN T. DAvIEs, SMIL. N. WILLIAMS.

